For Granted
by Flashflash-hundred-yard-dash
Summary: Judy Wilde had always managed to escape tragedy through her cunning mind and brave outlook on life. But when she took her safety for granted, what occurs when she loses the thing she didn't think she'd need most?
1. Chapter 1

Nick Wilde and- the newly- Judy Wilde were happy.

It was easy to be happy when everything had fallen into place for them over the course the years.

Five years of partnership at the ZPD. Four years of solid friendship. Three years of love. Two years of being together. One year of marriage.

They had taken on the world, not only as lovers, but as a team. They were unstoppable, unpredictable, undefinable.

Everything was in place.

Judy Hopps had grown up knowing that the things in life were a precious gift. She knew that many were not as blessed as she was to live in such a beautiful way.

She had been raised on a farm being taught to believe her dreams, but not to chase them. She defied that.

She had trained to become a police officer, her dream job since she was a kit. Not only did she manage to pass her school with flying colors, but she was valedictorian, even though she was told she wouldn't make it past stage one. She defied that as well.

She became the first ever, rabbit police officer to join the force (and manage to escape the title "meter maid") all while solving a case that was difficult for even the best to solve. Yes, she defied even that.

What she didn't defy was her love for Nicholas Wilde, the brave and cunning fox she had met in Zootopia on her first escapade. He had tricked his way through life, ending up falling for the amethyst-eyed bunny that had hopped into his heart.

Together, they saw life as their own. They often took their lives for granted as they could change their fates and determine their futures. Together, they defied the laws of life, making the world a better place.

Another day on the force, another day working as partners.

Judy Wilde drove through the streets of Zootopia scoping out danger. It was a normal thing for the city to be quiet in the suburb of Tundratown. Although she was shivering, she could almost guarantee her complete safety.

Her husband sat next to her in the passengers seat, glancing out of the window in boredom. It was a tedious job at times, but Judy made it worth it.

"Hey Judyyyyy," Nick sang to his wife, turning to look at her.

"Yes?" Judy responded keeping her eyes on the road.

"I'm borrrrred," Nick drawled out.

"Can't fix that."

Nick smirked and slyly said, "Of course you can."

Judy stopped at the red light, flashing a smirk. "How so?"

"By... This!"

Nick poked his fingers into Judy's right side. She screamed from the tingly-torture, laughing as she slid into her seat.

"NICK!" She gasped for air, seeing that the light had turned green, "STOP!"

Nick continued to poke her until a blaring honk ruined the moment. He pulled back his fingers and she quickly composed herself to drive.

" _Wilde_ ," she gritted through clenched teeth as she began to pull through the intersection, " _there were people behind us._ " 

"I'm sorry, _Wilde_..." Nick sported his resting face, a mix between a smirk and a sarcastic look.

The next few minutes were filled with a content silence, a love between the couple.

Nick eventually rested his left paw on Judy's right thigh, a comfortable gesture between the two. Judy relaxed, letting her tension leave.

 _"Officer Wilde, we have an incoming 415 near your location, Avenue 21 Ice Park 1734."_

"Officer N. Wilde and Officer J. Wilde in pursuit. Locating suspects." Nick turned off the pager as Judy turned down Avenue 21.

Almost immediately they spotted a small group of animals crowded around two others. They appeared to be arguing viciously.

Judy pulled up to the scene, unbuckling her seat belt and jumping out of the car. They both walked towards the incident preparing for an easy break up.

"Officer Wilde," Nick stated flashing his badge, "what seems to be the problem here?"

A medium-statured sheep complained, "This animal marched right into my poor grandmother and knocked her down rather harshly, all with out even apologizing! And now he's trying to run off with her purse!"

"I didn't see her and I was trying to give her back her purse, not steal it." The taller bear growled.

The small crowd around them all started mumbling how rude the bear was, saying that he should've helped her.

Judy sighed, a (hopefully) easy problem to solve.

"Now sir, I think it's a bit unreasonable to not help her up after the fall," Judy turned to face the sheep, "but is don't see how this is that big of problem. Is your grandmother okay?"

"NO! She is most certainly NOT okay! That _predator_ could've killed her!"

The bear, raged with hearing the discrimination, whipped out a gun, pointing it at the sheep.

"I WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT STAND FOR THIS."

Nick immediately pulled out his pager, "we have a 417. Request for possible back up?"

 _"Request for back up granted, sending Officer Buck and Officer Horn into pursuit."_

All while this was going on, Judy stepped in between the feuding animals, her hand resting on her gun in case.

"Now sir," she said cautiously looking at the bison, "we don't need to be unreasonable. Please release the gun."

"NO. HOW DARE THIS SHEEP THINK HE HAS THE RIGHT TO SAY SUCH THINGS." The bear was hyperventilating, full of anger and hatred.

"Sir, please release the gun!" Judy commanded, pulling out her own gun.

As soon as the large predator laid eyes on her gun, four large shots rang in the air.

As Nick was putting up his pager, pulling out his taser in case, the gun was fired. His head snapped up in time to see the bullets fire straight into his wife.

"JUDY!" He heard himself scream.

Three bullets planted themselves in her upper right thigh while the last one was in her abdomen.

The bear ran away immediately, trying to escape the screams and the new sirens from the back up.

Judy fell to the ground following impact. She cried out in pain, blood gushing out of the new wounds.

Nick ran to his wife's side, pulling her to his chest. Her screams and tears engulfing his mind.

"911! WE NEED MEDICAL HELP RIGHT NOW! OFFICER J. WILDE DOWN. I REPEAT WE HAVE AN OFFICER DOWN." Nick yelled into his pager.

 _"Medical assistance being sent your way!"_

Judy continued to whimper as her blood soaked into Nick's shirt. He ran her to the police car, placing her in the back seat reaching for the first aid kit. Tears soaked his cheeks as he wildly flailed to help his lover. Judy's screams filled his ears as he tried to wrap her leg and torso as best as he could.

Rather quickly, Judy was soon pulled from his care by the medical team into the ambulance.

"Judy!" Nick heard himself scream.

"Sir, please let go of her and follow us to the hospital." Judy was placed on a stretcher and the doors were slammed shut, letting the ambulance ride off to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Judy laid on the small hospital bed in Zootopia's Cares and Facilities. She wasn't conscious after the two extensive surgeries she had gone through, mainly due to the loss of blood and the anesthesia.

However, Nick sat next to Judy, holding her right paw in both of his. He still had a few tears every minute or so.

He looked at his wife sleeping (hopefully) peacefully. Her breaths were normal, thanks to the breathing tubes wrapped lightly around her face. They were steady and consistent; that's all Nick could hope for.

The door opened and the doctor walked in. Nick stood up to meet him.

"Hello," Nick said, voice on the raspy side from his shedding of tears.

"It is nice to meet you, Mr. Wilde," the doctor stated. "Please," he pointed back to the chair Nick had been sitting in, "have a seat."

Both Nick and the doctor sat in the chairs. Doctor "Scales", as his badge stated, began to pull some charts out from his clipboard.

"Mr. Wilde, we ran some tests on Judy and the good news is that she will be fine with some further treatment. The bullet that hit her torso was taken out, not much damage was done there."

Nick pressed, "Further treatment?"

The doctor sighed sadly, "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but due to the extensive loss of blood and the excessive amount of damage to her leg, we need to amputate it."

Nick gawked at the doctor. His Judy? Become an amputee?

He could see her trying to walk around with out her right leg, rather hop actually. Maybe in a wheel chair; maybe with crutches. Her cop work would be rather difficult, she wouldn't be able to drive anymore. She wouldn't be able to hop up to get onto their shared bed, nor be able to go up the apartment stairs.

"Is it truly that n-necessary?" Nick squeaked out, a bit shaken from the news.

"If you want your wife to have a better chance at a full recovery, then we need to perform the procedure immediately."

Nick looked at his wife, now a bit paler than the last glance. He knew she wouldn't be thrilled with this news at all.

"Do what you need to doctor." Nick gulped, and the doctor replied, "Perfect, I will have my nurses take her bed into the surgery room immediately."

The doctor left, calling some nurses who immediately rushed in, pulling out cords and began to push her out.

Nick quickly placed a kiss on her cold lips, letting her go back into the room.

Two days later, Judy Wilde woke up to hearing three separate voices.

"How do we know if she'll be okay, Nick?" Her mother Bonnie asked worriedly.

"The doctor said she could go home the day after she wakes up. Now we just wait." A deep voice replied, which was rather on the cracking side. She knew it was her loving husband, her best friend.

"This is your fault, Nicholas! You should've protected her better! What were you doing while she was shot?!" Stu yelled at his son-in-law.

"I-I couldn't save her! I'm sorry! It happen-" Nick was cut of by Stu.

"MY LITTLE GIRL IS NOW LYING IN THE HOSPITAL TO HER NEAR DEATH AND YOU SAY SORRY?" Stu roared.

"Stu," Bonnie placed her paw on her husband's shoulder, "honey, he tried his best, it's not his fault."

He slapped her hand off. "WHEN YOU MARRIED MY DAUGHTER YOU PROMISED TO PROTECT HER AND YOU BROKE THAT!"

Nick fell to his knees, sobbing. Bonnie gasped and Stu's heart softened a bit. Never had Nick let himself show true emotion in front of anyone, but his mother and Judy.

"I love her with all of my fault and now she can't even walk. I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

Judy, hearing this new information, slowly opened her eyes, groaning at the income of light. Hearing his wife, Nick jumped up and ran to her side, taking her right paw.

"J-Judy!" Nick exclaimed, "You're awake!"

Judy saw his tear-soaked cheeks and his bloodshot eyes.

"N-Nick..." She coughed out shakily. Bonnie put a cup of water to Judy's lips, who took a sip gratefully.

"Oh sweetheart! We were so worried!"

"Jude the dude! You're back!"

Judy tried her best to give her family a smile. She placed her hands on her thighs.

Or rather as she discovered, _thigh_. 

_What?_

Judy cautiously say up, pulling back her hospital blanket to reveal a hospital gown and one leg.

"W-what?" Judy stuttered.

Nick sighed and turned to Judy's parents, "I think we need to talk alone."

"But-" Stu started when Bonnie cut him off.

"Now Stu, we need to let them talk." Bonnie pulled a protesting Stu out into the hall.

Judy looked at her leg. Her one leg.

"N-Nick, w-what happened?" Judy whispered.

"Your leg was damaged to the point that it would have killed you, Judy. They... they had to amputate it."

Judy placed her hand on the new stub that used to be her leg. A scar ran across it.

Then a tear slipped out of her eye. And another. And another.

Her vision was so foggy to the point that Nick looked like a red blob with only the slightest distinction of a shape. He began to cry too, sitting down on Judy's bed and pulling her closer to him.

"It's o-okay, we are g-going to make it through this." Nick whispered through the tears.

And Judy cried until she fell asleep in Nick Wilde's arms.


	3. Chapter 3

Nick paced the hospital halls, waiting to see if his wife could return home with him that evening. Bonnie and Stu, sitting as patiently as possible, or grumbling about how Judy deserved better than a fox, in Stu's case.

"Nicholas Wilde?" A nurse called into the hall. Nick stopped pacing and nodded at the nurse, who in turn walked towards him and Judy's parents.

"Mr. Wilde, your wife will be fine to go home today. I just need you to sign these papers and the "Prosthetic Limb Qualifier" slip, and you'll be free to leave. We have already measured her for the leg and it should be ready in 2-3 weeks from now." She handed Nick the papers and walked into another hospital room.

Nick sat down in the closest chair to him and began filling out the paper work. The words on the pages all scrambled around his mind.

 _Prosthetic Limb Care._

 _Check up every 4 weeks for the next year._

 _Getting back to your normal life._

 _Most amputees are able to pick right back up with their jobs a few weeks after the prosthetic limb is applicable._

 _Talk to your doctor for more information._

 _Signing this document states that you are the immediate family or guardian to the patient._

Nick didn't take too much time reading the forms as he knew Judy would want to leave the hospital as soon as possible. She had cried, after she had woken up the previous day, that she wanted to go back to their shared apartment in mid-Zootopia. Bonnie and Stu had insisted that she come back to Bunnys Burrow for a few days, just to get back into the swing of life. Judy refused, stating that she needed to stay with Nick. While Bonnie and Stu were disheartened with the news, they knew that their daughter could decide what was best for herself.

Nick signed his name one last time and stood up to hand the paperwork to the sloth at the front desk. He stood there a good five minutes while the sloth stood up to reach the paperwork over the tall counter. While waiting, his foot was bouncing up and down impatiently.

 _That's something Carrots does,_ he thought , smiling at the thought, _she always taps her right foot at lightning speed when she's waiting on something._

 _Oh._

In that moment, the thought that his wife would have to face this new challenge every day for the rest of her life, hit him like a bullet. Like the bullets that changed Judy's life forever.

After the paperwork was finally handed over to the sloth, Nick slumped over with his hands in his pockets and made his way to Judy's hospital room.

Judy sat in the passenger seat of the car, a _rare_ thing for her considering she always drove her and Nick around town.

 _That won't be happening any time soon,_ she thought.

She sat, gazing out the window as the cars and scenery of the city passed by. As the cars became thicker in number, the slower Nick had to drive, giving Judy a moment to see the animals walking the sidewalks of Zootopia.

There was one mother with her kit, holding a balloon, walking on _both_ paws. A raccoon pushing a stroller with a tiny baby under the sun flap, with _both_ legs. Legs, legs, legs. That was all Judy could see; it was all she could think about.

Judy didn't want to think of herself as being bitter, but how could she not when everyone else had what she wanted, what she _needed_. Sure, she had heard the occasional story of a soldier coming back from war with a battle scar and a missing limb, or a kit born without a specific paw that would effect their everyday life.

But those animals weren't her.

Eventually, the couple pulled up to the lot in front of their apartment. Nick pulled the keys out of the ignition and jumped out of the car, rushing to get Judy's new wheelchair out of the back. He pushed the chair to her door and opened it.

Judy gave Nick a glum expression when he lifted her out of the passenger seat and placed her in the wheel chair. It wasn't a difficult task to pick up Judy, as she was a petite animal, but more of a burden for Judy as she should have been able to do that on her own.

Nick locked the car and began to push Judy's wheelchair towards the apartment complex doors. Once they reached the doors, Nick held open the door and Judy rolled herself in.

 _Dang, this is a lot harder of a job than I thought it'd be._

Judy pulled herself into the lobby, saying her usual greeting to the manager and made her way over to the stairs. "Man, that kid is going to have some problems," the zebra manager said, a little bit louder than he had intended. Judy paused for a moment, looking down at her one leg. _This is going to be hard._ Then, she continued to roll, not seeing that Nick had shot a rather harsh glare towards the zebra.

Judy rolled up to the stair well, gulping at the sight. Back when she was residing at Zootopia's Police Training Academy, they used to run up and down stairs for cardio workouts. As a rabbit, this came rather easily to Judy as she was fit and flexible. Now, it seemed like something of a nightmare.

Without another thought of hesitation, Judy locked the wheel chair into place so it wouldn't roll out from underneath her as she stood up, and placed her foot on the ground. She hopped the small distance to the railing that lined the stairwell.

"Judy, are you sure you want to do this?" Nick asked cautiously, hoping his wife would let him carry her up the stairs.

Judy huffed in confidence. "No, I can do this."

Judy, with all of her weight teetering on the thin rail, pulled herself up one step, landing on her left paw. She continued to swing up the stair case, leading her all the way to the first half flight. Nick followed behind her with the wheel chair, ready to catch her at any given moment if she were to fall.

Judy's forehead was glistening with sweat by the time she had reached the 2nd floor. _Only three more to go,_ she thought.

It was halfway through the third flight when Judy landed on her paw wrong, making her fall straight backwards into Nick, who caught her with ease. She slumped in his arms knowing it was no use.

"Hey," Nick said, balancing the handle of the wheel chair in one arm and Judy in the other, "It's okay, no one expects you to do this stuff as soon as you get out of recovery." He continued to walk up the stairs, reaching the 5th floor in no time at all. As soon as they met the hall, he placed the wheel chair down an placed Judy in it.

Judy unlocked it, and continued to roll (with Nick pushing the handles) until the reached their door at the end of the hall. Nick turned the key in the lock and walked in with Judy.

The apartment was dark and unused, as it had been for the past few days. The cool breeze from the AC reminded Judy that she was finally back home, in her safe haven. Judy rolled herself in, flipping the switch for the lights on. Light flooded the apartment, making it easier to see that someone had came in and organized a bit.

"Clawhauser asked if he could do anything to help and offered to straighten up the apartment for our return," Nick said, walking around the place with a look of approval. "He did a good job."

Judy muttered, "Yeah, I guess so," and rolled to their bedroom depressed. When she reached the door, she found that her wheel chair had 1/2 an inch of room on both sides, making her hit the wall several times trying to even get into the room.

"Judy," Nick ran over to her, "do you need any-"

"No," Judy cut off Nick, "I've got this." After a few more unsuccessful attempts, she finally made it into the room, shutting the door behind her.

Nick sighed in desperation. _What am I going to do, Judy? I want to help, but what do you do when your so blinded with grief, that you won't accept help?_

 **Wow, thank you all for following my story! I was not expecting that much feedback. Please review and I hope you enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

Judy glowered over the city from her apartment view. Five floors wasn't much to look over, but she could still make out the basic shapes of the shorter buildings and the animals walking the streets. She pulled her knee to her chest, balancing against the headboard of the bed.

At that moment, Nick walked into the room. He was dressed in the typical Zootopia police uniform, the navy blue one that looked rather handsome on him as Judy had said repeatedly.

He leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, gazing at his beautiful wife. He noticed her solemn expression and droopy ears.

Nick felt his heart drop; his wife would no longer be able to carry on normally. Her job would be quite different as she wouldn't be able to chase anyone down by foot, let alone drive. If Chief Bogo was gracious enough, she might be given a desk job or one similar to Benjamin Clawhauser's.

But he knew that his wife would never stop trying to get back right where she left off.

Nick walked to their bed and sat down. Judy hadn't known he was in there until she felt the bed dip on the other side and her balance was shifted a little.

"So I made you some breakfast," Nick said, handing her a plate of sweet carrot waffles and blueberry tea. "And I'm going to talk to Bogo about any job placements today. Maybe he'll try to find you an easier position while you recover."

"Yeah," Judy replied, not even giving him a glance, "I suppose." She was grateful for his help in her heart, but the rest of her revolted anything that screamed "can't do it yourself".

Nick sighed in defeat. "Alright then, I'll just head out. Do you want me to bring you anything else?" Judy shook her head. With that, he stood up and prepared to leave.

Judy smiled sadly, and locked her eyes onto Nick's. "I love you," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Nick smiled back saying, "I love you too, Carrots." And with that, he walked out of the room, locking the apartment door soon after.

As soon as Judy heard the jingle of his keys disappear and the sound of his footsteps diminish, she practically inhaled her food. _Nick would be making fun of me right about now._

Once she finished, she grabbed the nearest bed post and hopped onto her one leg. She stumbled a bit, but managed to keep off of the ground due to her death grip on the wooden post.

Taking in her surroundings, Judy hopped with her right hand grasping anything within reach: the remaining post of the bed, the night stand, the door frame and finally the couch's arm rest. She was completely out of breath by the time she got to her favorite chair in the living room.

On a normal day, she was an agile creature; she hadn't been this out of shape since before the academy. And even then she could still do the typical athletic things an animal could.

 _It's probably because of that time in the hospital. I couldn't even work out then or eat anything remotely nice. And now that I have this good-for-nothing stub of a leg, I probably won't be back up and running for a while._

She sat down deciding what she would do with her day. If she were completely recovered and had access to her new prosthetic leg, she could attempt some house chores. However, with neither crossed off of Judy's list, she decided to instead watch whatever was on the news. She grabbed the clicker and hit the power button.

An advertisement popped up for a new lawn care service. Judy relaxed back in her chair watching the pictures of satisfied customers roll through the screen. The news and it's ads weren't necessarily a favorite past-time of Judy's, but seeing as there was nothing else to do, she sat patiently awaiting the current story.

After another three or so minutes of ads, the opening number for the ZNN began to play, indicating the newscaster was about to make an appearance.

"We have received updated news on one of our most enticing stories as of lately. Officer Judy Wilde has been reported in good health after the grueling incident last Thursday morning in Tundratown." Judy sat up a little straighter, having no prior information to the public knowing about her situation.

The cameras began to roll footage from the near-by "Zootopia 1st Bank and Commerce" video camera as the newscaster narrated the events in the background. "Officer J. Wilde and her partner Officer N. Wilde were in pursuit when a disturbance was reported to the ZPD. Here, it is seen that the officers were approaching the victims to discuss the matter, when a bear pulled out his pistol. Officer J. Wilde took out her own gun for the purpose of safety and was brutally shot four times: three in the leg and one in the mid-torso. She was immediately taken to the hospital where she was reported to be released yesterday."

The footage showed everything from the blood that poured out of Judy's leg and painted the sidewalk, to Nick running after Judy with a pained look on his face. A tear slipped down her cheek as she continued to listen to the report.

"Here we have a near-by witness to share what he saw," the newscaster said, pointing the camera to a sheep. The same sheep that was in the fight with the bear.

"Mr. Whitehead, we have heard from you that during this attack, you were standing directly next to Officer Wilde. Can you describe what happened?" The microphone was brought towards the face of the sheep.

"I was simply walking around with my frail grandmother when a bear came up and attacked us! Officer Wilde was there to save us, but was shot a few times. I can only hope that she's okay." The sheep smiled, taking in his 15 seconds of fame.

Judy rolled her eyes in disgust. If Mr. Whitehead hadn't provoked the bear, none of this would've happened. Judy would just be working another day in the force. She wouldn't be missing a freaking leg.

"We are live at the Zootopia Police Department, where we have one of our interviewers on the site."

The camera showed Chief Bogo and Nick trying to walk into the building, but failing from the thickness of the crowd.

"OFFICER WILDE!"

"OVER HERE!"

"IS OFFICER JUDY WILDE GOING TO BE OKAY?"

"HAS OFFICER WILDE RECOVERED?"

Nick was wearing his shades, holding his hands up. Chief Bogo appeared to be furious at the demand of answers.

"WE HAVE NO COMMENT," Chief Bogo yelled.

The random animals and press lined up continued to scream for answers.

Judy could tell that Nick had heard enough of it, when he looked straight towards the camera and said, "My wife is at home recovering. She will be okay. Now _please,_ let me get to my job." Nick began to ouch through until he and Chief Bogo made it to the door.

Judy turned off the TV and hopped off the chair. For a split-second, she forgot that she was missing a leg, and tumbled to the ground. She landed face forward, grunting when she impacted.

After the shock of her fall had passed, she decided to lay there, waiting for a miracle to pull her right back onto her feet. Maybe if she prayed just hard enough, she could be lifted up by an angel and be granted a new leg.

Judy rolled over onto her back and propped her arms behind her head. _Maybe if I close my eyes,_ she thought, _I can take a good nap. Yeah, that sounds nice._

Judy closed her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of her life with two legs.

Nick's keys jingled as he unlocked the front door of the apartment. He pushed the door open and walked in slowly. He was absolutely exhausted.

Nobody would stop asking about Judy, not that he minded hearing his wife's beautiful name every time he turned a corner, but that it made his worrying skyrocket. He had been questioning himself all day, wondering if it was a good idea to leave her alone.

He closed the door and walked inside the hallway to the living room. When he arrived, the first thing was Judy sprawled out on the floor.His stomach flipped.

He ran to his wife's side and dropped to his knees. _What happened? Is she okay? What if she's dead?_ He shook Judy's shoulders while yelling, "Judy!"

She groaned and rolled closer into his arms as he sighed in relief. The grey rabbit's eyes blinked open; she hissed when the light flooded her eyes. "What are you doing, Nick?"

"You were on the ground, a-and I didn't know-"

"I tripped earlier and was too lazy to get back up," Judy yawned while talking, "so I took a nap."

Nick laughed, despite still being in shock from thinking that something had actually happened to her. "You sly bunny," he exclaimed.

"You dumb fox," She threw back. "Oh, by the way, how was your day? I happened to be watching ZNN when you were on it. Tough crowds."

Nick groaned remembering the awful day he'd had. "That's a story for another time, Carrots."

 **Hey! Thanks for all of the positive feed back so far! I've enjoyed writing this story. I know it may be a little slow in the plot right now, but there is more action to come soon! Please review!**


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